Seize the avidity upon...

[cooliegirly]

"The faculty for myth is innate in the human race. It seizes with avidity upon any incidents in the career of those who have at all distinguished themselves from their fellows, and invents a legend."

I don't know what the second sentence means, especially the bold part.

[Yankee]

[cooliegirly]

I see. I get the general meaning of it now, do you have a more word by word kind of translation of this sentence though?